Yahoo Shares Spike on Alibaba Takeover Interest, ABC News Alliance

Yahoo shares jumped more 5 percent by midday Monday after the chairman of China's Alibaba said he's interested in buying it and Yahoo announced a news alliance with ABC News.

Yahoo shares rose to $13.84 up 67cents, at mid-day. They opened up 3 percent.

We are very interested in Yahoo,'' Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma told a Stanford University forum. Yahoo, under former CEO Carl Bartz, acquired a 40 percent stake in Alibaba, China's biggest online payments service and then feuded with it over compensation. That stake is valued around $2 billion.

Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., hired Allen & Co. for investment advice after Bartz's firing last month. While neither Yahoo nor Allen has confirmed them, reports have said it has been approached by Silver Lake Partners, Providence Equity Partners and perhaps Amazon for a takeover.

Meanwhile, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC News division announced on Good Morning America that it would tie up with Yahoo News in strategic news alliance that will combine stories with video content, including a live interview Monday afternoon with President Obama conducted by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos.

The move could suggest Walt Disney, which operates a number of sites, may itself be interested in acquiring Yahoo. Apple Chairman Steve Jobs is a Disney director as well as its largest individual shareholder.

Yahoo News and ABC News are to set up integrated bureaus in New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. ABC News content will be distributed via the Yahoo News network.

Yahoo News is currently the top news site, with nearly 80 million unique monthly visitors, whereas the ABC News Web site attracts only about 25 million monthly visitors.

Yahoo's market capitalization is $16.4 billion; Disney's is $55.6 billion.